Monday, 4 October 2010

Eu-rope! Eu-rope!

That was the cry echoing around Celtic Manor this afternoon as the Ryder Cup was snatched back from the Americans. Eu-rope? It doesn't sound right does it? Having said that, it was reassuring to hear the non-Brits being encouraged so much even if it was only "ole-ole-ole" for Miguel Jiminez and "there's only two Molinari's" for the Italians.

If you were watching yesterday, did you see the Charlton fan in his club waterproofs who managed to get himself prominently positioned behind one of the tees? Even though he was wearing a large black beret, I recognised him and will pull him next time I see him.

The finale this afternoon descended to near chaos. The crowd were allowed to get much closer to the action than ever before and there was no rope or marshals keeping them back. On the seventeenth as the game drew to it's climax, the crowd fringed the green as Hunter Mahan fluffed his putt and removed his cap to concede. The players were quickly enveloped and it took about 15 minutes before the police were able to get into the crowd and escort the players out of the melée. For the most part they looked like they were enjoying it but Ian Poulter nearly lost his rag near the end as he shouted at fans to "get back."

It was great theatre which brought the spectator-less Commonwealth Games into sharp focus. It's surely time for this anachronism to be wound-down, or least played out where the cost of hosting it bears some semblance of reality to the relative importance of it in the minds of the athletes who compete.